Glove for a pressurized suit

ABSTRACT

A GLOVE FOR A PRESSURIZED SUIT INCLUDES A PLURALITY OF FINGER STALLS JOINED TO A MAIN GLOVE RESTRAINT ASSEMBLY ALONG THE KNUCKLES AT THE REAR AND ALONG THE BREAK LINE OF THE PALM, EACH FINGER STALL COMPRISING AN INNER, FLEXIBLE BLADDER, A ONE-WAY STRETCH CLOTH PANEL PROVIDING HOOP LOAD RESTRAINT ACROSS THE BACK OF EACH STALL, RESTRAINT CLOTH ACROSS THE FRONT OF EACH STALM AND A PLEATED RESTRAINT CLOTH PROTECTION COVER OVER THE ONE-WAY STRETCH CLOTH ON THE BACK OF EACH STALL, A DIAMOND SHAPED, FOLDED WEB JOINS THE ROOT OF ONE STALL TO THE ROOT OF AN ADJACENT STALL, AND THE POSITION OF THE WEB IS STABILIZED BY RESTRAINT CORDS LEADING FROM THE CROTCH THUS FORMED BETWEEN ADJACENT STALLS AT THE FRONT AND THE REAR TO A POINT NEAR THE KNUCKLES ON THE BACK TRANK AND TO A POINT NEAR THE PALM BREAK LINE ON THE FRONT TRAK. LATERAL RESTRAINTS ARE PROVIDED IN PIPING WITHIN THE LATERAL SEAMS OF EACH SIDE OF EACH FINGER STALL, THE PIPING RUNNING ALONG THE REAR SEAM OF THE WEB AND THE RESTRAINT CORD THEREIN PASSING THROUGH A SECTION OF PIPING WHICH HOLDS THE REAR WEB STABILIZING RESTRAINT CORD AND TERMINATING AT AN ADJACENT POINT. THE MAIN GLOVE BODY IS COMPRISED OF A REAR TRANK, A PALM HEEL PANEL OR TRANK, AND A THUMB TRANSITION PIECE. A THUMB STALL IS FASHIONED IN A MANNER SIMILAR TO THAT AN INDIVIDUAL   FINGER STALL, BUT WITHOUT ANY WEBBING. LATERAL RESTRAINTS ON THE THUMB STALL ARE JOINED TOGETHER IN A TURNAROUND THAT CIRCUMSCRIBES THE BASE OF THE THUMB STALL.

Feb. l23, 1971 v D, E, GETCHELL I'AL n 3,564,614

GLOVE FOR A PRESSURIZED SUIT Filed Dec, v2o, 1968 United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 2-161 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A glove for a pressurized suit includes a plurality of finger stalls joined to a main glove restraint assembly along the knuckles at the rear and along the break line of the palm, each finger stall comprising an inner, exible bladder, a one-way stretch cloth panel providing hoop load restraint across the back of each stall, restraint cloth across the front of each stall, and a pleated restraint cloth protection cover over the one-way stretch cloth on the back of each stall. A diamond shaped, folded web joins the root of one stall to the root of an adjacent stall, and the position of the web is stabilized by restraint cords leading from the crotch thus formed between adjacent stalls at the front and the rear to a point near the knuckles on the back trank and to a point near the palm break line on the front trank. Lateral restraints are provided in piping within the lateral seams of each side of each finger stall, the piping running along the rear seam of the web and the restraint cord therein passing through a section of piping which holds the rear web stabilizing restraint cord and terminating at an adjacent point. The main glove body is comprised of a rear trank, a palm heel panel or trank, and a thumb transition piece. A thumb stall is fashioned in a manner similar to that of an individual finger stall, `but -without any webbing. Lateral restraints on the thumb stall are joined together in a turnaround that circumscribes the base of the thumb stall.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to pressurized suits, of the type used in high altitude aviation and space exploration, and more particularly to a restraint glove therefor.

Description of the prior art In the field of pressurized suits, it is well known that the pressure within the suit causes the various members thereof to become extremely stiff, even though the material of which the suit is fashioned is flexible when unpressurized. This stiffness is due in part to the loading of the suit which results from the internal pressure being much higher than the pressure outside of the suit. For instance, although the gaseous pressure within the suit tends to push all portions of the glove generally outwardly, these pressure components can be considered to provide two distinct loads to various portions of the glove. Thus, in a glove, it is common to consider plug load as the pressure force within the glove which tends to clongate the finger and thumb stalls (and in fact the entire glove) in a longitudinal fashion; and hoop load refers to the pressure forces tending to enlarge the glove transversely, that is, radially outwardly. This stiffness is also due in part to restraints used to overcome hoop load and plug load forces thus to maintain the shape and size of the glove suitable for the hand of the wearer. Heretofore, little has been done to provide an adequate restraint glove for a pressurized suit. In some cases, an ordinary leather glove, with minor modifications, is provided over an inner, gas retaining bladder portion. In some cases, minor innovations have been tried without much success. However, no really adequate glove capable of a full range of hand motion with a minimum of torque has heretofore been available.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a highly flexible pressurized glove capable of responding to the hand of the wearer in response to very low torque applied thereto, and which is relatively stable in all degrees of flexure.

According to the present invention, a glove for a pressurized suit includes finger and thumb stalls having back panels composed of one-way stretch cloth, front panels composed of substantially non-stretchable restraint cloth, and a flexible rubber bladder stalls internally thereof. According further to the present invention, a pleated outer protective cover is provided over the one-way stretch cloth. In further accord with the present invention, Webs are provided between each finger stall, the position of the Iwebs being stabilized with restraint cords to the tranks of the glove. In accordance with the present invention, lateral restraints on each side of each finger stall are provided within piping which terminates at the rear trank of the glove. In accordance further with the present invention, the main section of a glove consists of a rear trank, a front trank, and a thumb transition piece. In accordance still further with the present invention, lateral restraints on the thumb stall are joined together in a turnaround which circumscribes the base of the thumb stall.

A glove in accordance with the present invention -perr mits tleXure of the hand through nearly the same degree,

and virtually all motions as the hand is capable of when unrestrained. The glove in accordance herewith is relatively stable at any degree of fiexure, and is free of discomforture resulting from discontinuities in the shape of the glove cutting into the wearer thereof.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in the light of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a glove in accordance with i the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partially sectioned and broken away side elevation of a pair of finger stalls of a glove in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the webbing between two finger stalls of a glove in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a simplified section of restraint cords and piping utilized in a glove in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the main glove restraint structure comprises a palm heel panel or front trank 10, a thumb transition panel 12, and a back panel or trank 14. The thumb transition panel is joined to itself under the base of the thumb stall. Each nger stall and the thumb stall of the glove includes a front panel 16 and a pleated rear cover panel 1S, both made of nonstretching restraint cloth. The pleats 20 in the rear panels 18 are to permit the rear panels to elongate slightly whenever the fingers or thumbs are flexed. As shown herein, each finger section (16, 18) is joined to the main glove restraint structure (-14) at seams 28, 30 (FIG. 3) which run across the knuckles at the back, and substantially along the palm break line at the front. These seams are beneath a strap 24 which is shown in simplied form herein in order not to obscure details of the invention. The strap 24 may comprise a part of a palm restraint and adjustment assembly of the type known to the prior art which may include a steel T-bar palm restraint (as shown in phantom by the dot-dash lines 26 in FIG. 1), and the strap 24 may be combined with an adjusting strap which is typically used to provide circumferential size adjustment, with an adjustment buckle or snaps located at the back of the hand. This may be incorporated into a glove practicing the present invention if desired without departing from the invention herein. These parts have been eliminated herefrom in order to simplify the illustrations and clarify the points of novelty herein. The seams 28, 30 beneath the strap 24 are illustrated in simplified form in FIG. 3. Therein, each seam 28, 30 is seen to include not only the strap 24, but the seam 28 also joins the back cover panel 18 and a stretch panel 54 of a finger with the back trank 14 of the glove, and a seam 30 joins the front panel 16 of the finger with the palm heel panel 10 (or perhaps with the thumb transition 12).

Each finger panel 16 is joined to an adjacent finger panel `between the crotch of the finger stall and the strap 24 (FIG. 3) by a seam 32, only one of which is illustrated in FIG. l. Within each of the seams 32 is sewn a short length of piping 34 within which a single piece of plug load restraint cord 36 passes from a point near the crotch of the finger stall to the strap 24, where the short piece of restraint cord 36 is tied. Between adjacent ones of each of the four finger stalls are disposed respective ones of three webs 38, each of which is substantially diamond shaped (as illustrated more clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4), bending at the crotch of the finger so as to form an inter-stall crotch for the glove. The restraint cords 36 are stitched to the front of the web in a manner similar to that illustrated in FIG. 4 with respect to the back of the web, and as shown in detail in FIG. 3. Similarly, as is illustrated in detail in FIG. 4, from the rear of the bend in each web 38 to the strap 24, as it traverses the rear trank, there is secured a plug load restraint cord 40.

Each of the finger stalls is also provided with a pair of restraint cords 42 which extend from near the tips of the finger stalls all the way to the strap 24. Along the edges of the finger stalls proper, each of the restraint cords 42 traverses a section of piping 44 which is secured as part of a seam 46 which runs along the edge of each of the finger stalls. The seam 46 and therefore the piping 44 run along the rear edge of the webbing 38, and in fact the webbing 38 is secured along the seam 46 at the base of the finger stall. The webbing 38 is secured to the front finger panel 16 by seams 48 (shown best in FIG. 3) which has no piping in it. The restraint cords 42 for each of two finger stalls and the restraint cord 40 between the same two finger stalls are all passed through a related one of a plurality of sections of piping 50, which is built into a seam 52 (FIG. 4) which joins the roots of adjacent back panels 18 and stretch panels 54. This is illustrated in section in FIG. 5. As is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, underneath the back panel 18 of each stall is a panel of one-way stretch cloth 54 which extends throughout the length of the back of the finger from the fingertip to the seam 28 (FIG. 3) that runs across the back of the hand. The stretch cloth S4 and the pleated back panels 18 therefore form a double layer along the back of the fingers which is joined at the seams 28, and which joins the front panels 16 and the webs 38 along the seams 46.

Within the restraint glove described thus far, there is 4 a bladder of thin, highly resilient material, such as Latex@ This bladder is illustrated by a finger stall 58 thereof in FIGS. 3 and 4. When the glove is under pressure, the bladder 58 acts as the gas retaining seal (as is known in the art) and is blown outwardly away from the finger 60 as is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The thumb stall 61 has the same general construction as the finger stalls, one difference being the utilization of a lateral restraint cord 42a. Instead of terminating in a seam as do the restraint cords 42 on the finger stalls, this cord begins at the tip of the thumb stall on one side, runs through a section of piping 44a similar to that on each of the finger stalls, and then passes through a turnaround section 62, which traces a curve about the base of the thumb stall, up to the other tip of the thumb stall. The turnaround 62 permits the thumb to be moved from side to side (which is essentially into and out of the paper as viewed in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) without the lateral restraint restricting this motion since the restraint is free to slide along the turnaround 62, so as to have less restraint cord on one side and more restraint cord on the other as the thumb is moved.

As a result of the restraint cords 36, at the front, and the restraint cords 40, at the rear, the base of each of the Webs 38 is adjusted and stabilized with respect to the main glove structure 10-14 since it is tied to the strap 24. In addition, the size of the glove when pressurized can be adjusted by adjusting the length of the web restraint cords 34, 40, thereby permitting the plug load (longitudinal force resulting from internal pressure) at the fingertips in the glove to draw the finger stalls outwardly to a given point determined by the length of the cords 36, 40

`In a similar fashion, the lateral finger restraint cords r 42 may be adjusted in length at the strap 24 so as to adjust the overall pressurized size of the glove. In addition, by adjusting the restraint cords 42, the ratio between the restrained length of the fingers and the unrestrained length of the fingers may be altered. By causing the cords 42 to be shorter, more excess material is provided in the glove than if the restraint cords 42 are longer, for a given size of finger stall. In addition, if all of the plug load of each finger stall is taken up Iby the restraint cords 42 then these restraints tend to give a minor toggling action as the fingers are bent and tend to assist the maintaining the fingers in the bent condition. This is called stability of flexure, and is very important in providing a glove which does not tend to snap back open every time it is closed, `as a result of pressure within the glove.

The webs 38 provide `a neat crotch between the roots of adjacent finger stalls, which has very little material and essentially no seams therein. This permits the fingers to close up tightly, as is true in the case of gloves used as street rwear. This contrasts with pressurized gloves of the prior art which have a tendency to present too much bulk to the crotch between the finger stalls, making it difficult for the wearer to perform tasks and making it extremely uncomfortable. In addition, relative motion between fingers is more difficult due to a high amount of friction in gloves of the prior art resulting from bulk of material in the crotches thereof.

The one-way stretch fabric 54 permits the fingers `and thumb to be `iiexed inwardly (that is bent, as in the case of a closed fist) while maintaining hoop load (radiallyoutward force as a result of internal pressure) continuity around the finger in serial relationship with the front finger panels 16 which are composed of non-stretchable restraint fabric.

In addition, the one-way stretch fabric panels 54 at the back of the fingers have a different modulus of stretch or elasticity than does `the material of the bladder 58, which is much more highly stretchable and resilient. As a result of pressure within the glove, the bladder 58 is in frictional cont-act with the one -way stretch fabric 54, and

this tends to resist slightly the bending of the fingers, which provides an additional degree of stabilization.

The bladder 58 is not too critical, but it has been found that if the bladder is not capable of longitudinal stretching as a result of bending of the finger, than the bladder must be of a sufficient size, and the restraints 42 must be so adjusted, so as to have additional room at the tip of the finger stalls as a result of the pressure within the suit so that Iwhen the finger is bent, the tips of the wearers fingers will not abut the tips of the finger stalls. On the other hand, utilizing a highly resilient, thin material such as that used in surgeons gloves, has been found to be quite satisfactory, and the size of such material is less critical since it 'will follow the size of the restraint layers of the glove (16, 54) when the fingers are bent.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it should be -understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and omissions in the form and detail thereof may be made therein without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

Having thus described a typical embodiment of our invention that `which we claim as ne-w and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a glove for a pressurized suit of the type having a main restraint structure including front and rear tranks, and a plurality of finger stalls, there being a crotch formed between the roots of each pair of adjacent finger stalls, the improvement comprising:

a plurality of plug load restraints, each secured at one end to the crotch formed between adjacent nger stalls and secured at the other end to said main restraint structure.

2. The glove according to claim 1 wherein said plug load restraints are adjustably disposed for providing length adjustment for the finger stalls of the glove.

3. The glove according to claim l2 wherein each of said finger stalls comprises front and rear panels and wherein said restraints are slidably retained within piping joined to the fabric at the juncture of front and rear or adjacent finger panels.

4. In a glove for a pressurized suit having a main restraint structure including front and rear tranks, and a plurality of finger stalls, the improvement comprising:

a web section joining adjacent ones of said finger stalls at the crotch formed thereby;

a plug load restraint cord secured to the front of each crotch formed by adjacent finger stalls and to the front portion of said main restraint structure, and secured to the rear of each crotch formed by adjacent finger stalls to the rear portion of the main restraint structure.

5. The glove according to claim 4 'wherein said plug load restraint cords are adjustably disposed for adjusting the stable position of said finger stalls lwith respect to said main restraint structure.

6. A glove for a pressurized suit comprising:

a main restraint structure including front and rear tranks;

a plurality of finger stalls; and

a restraint cord fxedly attached to each side of each finger stall, each said restraint cord terminating at 6 the juncture of the related linger stall with said main restraint structure at the back of the hand.

7. The glove according to claim 6 Iwher-ein said finger stalls each comprise a front panel and a rear panel joined on each side by a seam including hollow piping and 5 wherein said restraint cords are slidably retained within said piping.

8. The glove according to claim 6 including a plurality of plug load restraints, one at the front and one at the back of the crotch formed between adjacent finger stall, said plug load restraints stabilizing both the forward and rearward portions of the crotch formed between adjacent finger stalls to the main restraint structure of said glove.

9. In a glove for a pressurized suit having an outer restraint layer and an inner gas retaining layer, each including a thumb stall and a plurality of finger stalls, the improvement comprising:

each of said stalls in said outer restraint layer including a front panel comprised of a nonstretchable restraint cloth layer and a rear panel comprised of a one-way stretch layer which is stretchable in one direction only; and

said gas retaining inner layer comprising a bladder of highly resilient thin material, the modulus of elasticity of said bladder material being significantly different from that of said one-way stretch layer, whereby the flexure of the glove is stabilized through frictional action between said one-way stretch layer and said inner gas retaining layer.

10. The glove according to claim 9 additionally com prising:

a pleated nonstretchable restraint fabric outer panel sewed to and covering and protecting said one-way stretch cloth layer.

11. A glove for a pressurized suit comprising:

a thumb stall;

a unitary restraint for said thumb stall; and

a turnaround sliding guide disposed about the base of said thumb stall, said restraint being affixed to the sides of said thumb stall and passing through said turn around guide, there being space between the points at which said restraint is affixed on each side of the thumb stall and the entrance for said restraint into said guide on each side of said thumb, whereby said thumb stall is capable of a substantially full range of motion while under pressure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 2-2.1, 164 

